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paulalbert
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| Joined: | Fri Jul 16th, 2004 |
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Posted: Sat Apr 8th, 2006 17:22 |
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Here's a fun MP-friendly diversion for all of you Londoners... Londonites... people who live in London.
It's called "guerrila gardening." Here's the original. In my considered opinion, this is totally cool.
IT IS the latest gang to explode in the concrete canyons of South London, bringing not knives, nor drugs, nor guns — but plants.
They congregate at night beside roundabouts and road junctions, armed with trowels and spades.
The authorities say there is little they can do to stop the rapidly expanding guerrilla movement from planting every neglected patch of soil with rows of hyacinths, rosemary and Day-Glo primulas, tidying up afterwards and returning regularly to water and weed.
They call themselves the Guerrilla Gardeners and in five months they have grown from one man with a passion for shrubs to more than five hundred. On a Thursday night they appeared at a triangular traffic island a mile south of Waterloo, carrying sacks of mulch, a water dispenser and tools. They started weeding.
“I’ve just joined,” said Anne Slater, 66, a human resources manager from Stockwell, South London. “We came here two weeks ago and it was absolutely covered in weeds.”
A night employee of Morley College, which overlooks the junction, said: “It was like a flash mob. Suddenly there was nearly a hundred people out there, gardening.”
The Guerrilla Gardeners were back the next night, to plant rows of lavender, hellebores and a holly bush.
This week it was a smaller detachment carrying out maintenance and more planting at the site they call “Project Nine”. By day all are urban professionals: charity officers, tax consultants and managers. “It’s anarchic but in a nice way,” said Mrs Slater. “My stepdaughter is standing by to bail me out in case we all get arrested.”
The police have questioned the guerrillas but in an area of London with one of the highest crime rates they usually have more pressing engagements.
The local authority is in a quandary. There may be legal issues but Southwark Council does not wish to clamp down on the gardening. It would prefer to work with the guerrillas, a spokeswoman said.
Richard Reynolds, 28, the group’s founder, thinks that would entail “a lot of red tape, rather than simply gardening”. On a lunchtime trip to water “Project Nine” he met the man from Transport for London who is officially charged with tending the site.
“He was only allowed to do something here once every three months,” Mr Reynolds said. “If he wanted to water a border in the Old Kent Road, health and safety wanted him to shut down the dual carriageway. It would cost £600 just to water. I can come and do it on my way to work.”
Mr Reynolds, the son of a vicar from North Devon, is an Oxford graduate, and an advertising account planner.
His urban gardening drive began two years ago when he moved to a tower block overlooking Elephant and Castle, South London, decorated with empty concrete pots.
He went out after midnight and replanted the beds in the entrance way. Similar midnight missions followed.
So it began. He set up a website to chart the progress and to call on repressed gardeners to join up. Cash donations flooded in. Members receive regular e-mails notifying them of the time and postcode of the next project.
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Diag CFS 6.03 / sympt since 9.02 / exercise, food intol, sleep prob / 1,25D: 16, 4.06; 1,25D:27, 25D:26 7.04; 1,25D:43, 25D:6 6.05; 1,25D:17, 25D:8 8.05; / MP: 7.04 / Ph. 3 / Bacteriality
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BARNEY
Moderator
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Posted: Sat Apr 8th, 2006 22:47 |
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Paulalbert,
That is so cool.....thank you for sharing this with us.
As you probably know, I planted a garden after dark and tended it after dark. The only thing that lived was muscelin (a fancy mix of lettuce), tomatoes and mint. The rest was devoured by every small animal or varmet in a 50 mile radius. I would plant, it would come up green and they would eat it all including the roots.
The gentleman at the hardware told me he put a hot wire not to far off the ground and that solved his problem (in the garden). It is so dry here this year (we are in a very bad drought), that he said he did not have to trim his hedge as high up as the jack rabbits could reach (no hot wire there). Saved him some work tho.
Thanks again Paulalbert.
HANG IN THERE, WE WILL MAKE IT!!!! BARNEY
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64jointsarc77skinsarc80lungsarc81asthma/migranes
95rkidneyremoved(cyst)diabetic/gallbremoved,96
totalhyst(cysts,endom)01fibro,Benicar40/20mg&xtra
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Knochen
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| Joined: | Thu Feb 23rd, 2006 |
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Posted: Mon Apr 10th, 2006 02:16 |
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I know that I'm planning on really practicing the ukulele while I go through the MP. You laugh, but it's really a fun thing to play and it's a whole lot more than doing bad imitations of Tiny Tim! Try, for example, John King's ukulele rendition of the Bouree http://www.nalu-music.com/nalu/track11.mp3
His J.S. Bach stuff is mind boggling.
I play all kinds of things on my ukes and they make me happy. That's the whole trick. Play a simple instrument like the uke that's very easy to learn (even for the non-musical - honest!) and you can keep yourself amused for hours. Kids love them for some reason.
The other thing I enjoy when I'm forced to be indoors for health reasons or otherwise, is Old Time Radio (OTR for short). There are ga-zillions of old shows available on CD or MP3 from various dealers for cheap, cheap money. You have everything from old comedy shows like "Fibber McGee & Molly" (hey, it ran for more than 20 years, they must have done something right) to mystery shows,westerns,Bing Crosby, and who knows what else. Thousands upon thousands of hours of programs, virtually all of which is stuff you could play in front of your grandmother without offense, so it's good family entertainment. Oddly enough, kids love this stuff too. I have given gifts of these CDs to a number of people and they always ask for more. I even sent some to a friend of mine who is serving in Iraq and he says his his buddies are now totally hooked on some of the 50's Sci Fi shows!
The nice thing about either of these activities is they take little effort on your part, but really keep your spirits up. You can do them alone or with your family and friends. And with the old radio shows, you can actually learn some history by osmosis. The advertisements from the WW2 shows that talk about rationing and things are very interesting. Gee, you mean people recycled way back then?  That's right kiddo, you had to take your empty toothpaste tube back to the store or they wouldn't give you a new one.
I hesitate to list any sites here on the board, but if anybody has an interest in any of this stuff, I can get you hooked up with the right sites to look at to get you started. Besides, I'm always up for a ukulele chat.
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Reiter's Syndrome 25+ yrs, fatigue, joints, muscles, migraine, brainfog| 25D <4 ng/ml |Benicar May06|Ph1 June06|Ph 2 Sept06|Ph 3 Jan 07|NoIRs K-Cream Zinc Oxide cream - Always covered!
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Vicki SA
Member in Phase 3
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Posted: Tue Apr 11th, 2006 01:26 |
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Love it Knochen!
I play guitar and these days you can get books with a CD & DVD and although it isn't as good as having an instructor "on tap", it does let you play whenever you are able. Having something that you can work at improving and having the satisfaction and reward of doing something creative is a really good thing.
I know what you mean about laughing and making you happy. On the weekend I was playing this piece and it was a typical "learning" thing in that it was very varied and tricky although it sounds simple. When I got it rolling along, I just couldn't stop giggling at the end of it.
I have often thought of getting a ukulele, just because they are small and easier to carry around. I know George Harrison always carried a ukulele with him and eventually had to carry two for everyone else who wanted to have a go!
cheerio Vicki
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ME/CFS 2000, Splenectomy, 8/05 - 1,25D51,25D16.5, Ph1 12/05, Ph3 1/07, Zoton 30mg, 2008 - cover with light r/t Work 3/7, NoIRs, hat, cover well, invis. zinc for outside, low lux home, Sept08 25D - 8
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paulalbert
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| Joined: | Fri Jul 16th, 2004 |
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Posted: Wed Jul 12th, 2006 20:56 |
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I found an interesting site for what to do you when you're in prison, and for some reason I thought of the MP. 
Here are a few highlights. I personally find it comforting that they are as much at a loss of what to do as I am.
This of course assumes you have energy.
Paul
Does Geometry appeal? Join a long prison tradition and work your way through Euclid's Elements.
Select a long poem or a piece of prose that's really important to you, learn it by heart and perfect your recitation of it.
Learn to count cards. Card counting is extremely useful in casino blackjack (here in tahoe there is still one casino which plays single deck blackjack). Start off with a single up/down count per high/low card and work your way onto more complex strategies. All you need is a book and a deck of cards. Get a book on card tricks while you are at it.
This prison doesn't sound too far from a meditation retreat or monastery. Can you seed your mind ahead of time with some self-growth books (or bring some in) and then spend the time meditating and practicing buddhist acceptance of everything, or forgiving your parents and accepting yourself....
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Diag CFS 6.03 / sympt since 9.02 / exercise, food intol, sleep prob / 1,25D: 16, 4.06; 1,25D:27, 25D:26 7.04; 1,25D:43, 25D:6 6.05; 1,25D:17, 25D:8 8.05; / MP: 7.04 / Ph. 3 / Bacteriality
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Knochen
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| Joined: | Thu Feb 23rd, 2006 |
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Posted: Wed Jul 12th, 2006 23:02 |
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I saw this today and thought it might be just the thing for MPers trapped in the cave. Complex toothpick structures! (I'm sure Trevor would prefer we make models of the various drug receptors, but I'm going for the old standards) I'm especially impressed by the working Ferris wheel on page 3 of the article.
http://tinyurl.com/guduwLast edited on Thu Jul 13th, 2006 00:46 by Knochen
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Reiter's Syndrome 25+ yrs, fatigue, joints, muscles, migraine, brainfog| 25D <4 ng/ml |Benicar May06|Ph1 June06|Ph 2 Sept06|Ph 3 Jan 07|NoIRs K-Cream Zinc Oxide cream - Always covered!
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